The court sentenced him to 25 years in jail to be followed by deportation.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

A building’s watchman habitually raped a mentally challenged teen whenever her mother went her way. He will spend 25 years behind bars, a jury ruled on Sunday.

The Asian defendant, 21, sexually assaulted the 18-year-old Iraqi victim inside her mother’s apartment on several occasions in August last year, taking advantage of her mental illness and the absence of her mother.

Besides rape, prosecutors accused him of violating the family apartment’s privacy by entering without permission with intent to rape. He had a spare key he used to gain access whenever the mother left for work.

Before police and prosecutors, he confessed to have abused her “thrice only.” But, in court he denied the rape and trespassing charges. The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced him to 25 years in jail to be followed by deportation.

In prosecution records, the teen’s mother, 52, narrated that she moved with her daughter and mother to the apartment in Al Rifa’a in February. She wanted to change the apartment lock but the defendant protested the move.

He instead handed her a key and kept a spare key for himself. “I noticed my daughter was relentlessly crying.

“She had also lost appetite. I did not know the reasons. I lured her to a discussion on the evening of September 11.”

“I asked her what was wrong. She told me that whenever I and my mother left, the watchman would enter using the spare key and harass her,” explained the mother adding that she realised the defendant made use of having the spare key.

A report from the General Department of Forensic Science and Criminology confirmed the defendant was with her. Doctors recommended she be referred to therapy to be able to overcome the trauma resulting from the abuse ordeal.

A report from a hospital in Dubai showed the teen suffered from a mental illness preventing her from knowing right from wrong, thus she was not responsible for her actions.